The jihadi rebels who toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad say they need to construct a unified, inclusive nation. However after 14 years of civil battle, striking that very best into observe is probably not simple.For Syria’s Kurdish minority, The united states’s closest best friend within the nation, the combat for a brand new order is getting into a doubtlessly much more difficult segment.Over the process Syria’s civil battle, Kurdish combatants have fended off an array of armed factions, partnered with the U.S. to rout the Islamic State crew and carved out a in large part self reliant area within the nation’s oil-rich east.
However the beneficial properties of the non-Arab Kurds at the moment are in peril. The ascendance of the Sunni Arab rebels who overthrew Assad — with important assist from Turkey, an established foe of the Kurds — will make it exhausting for the Kurds to discover a position within the new Syria and may extend the warfare.
The jihadi rebels who rode into Damascus over the weekend have made non violent overtures to the Kurds. However the rebels violently drove Kurdish combatants out of the jap town of Deir al-Zour days after govt forces deserted it. To the north, a separate opposition faction subsidized through Turkey that has been scuffling with the Kurds for years seized town of Manbij. And Turkey performed airstrikes on a Kurdish convoy it stated used to be wearing heavy guns looted from govt arsenals.
The Kurds have lengthy counted on U.S. assist within the face of such demanding situations. Round 900 American troops are in jap Syria, the place they spouse with Kurdish forces to stop an Islamic State resurgence. However the way forward for that venture shall be thrown into doubt underneath president-elect Donald Trump, who has lengthy been skeptical about U.S. involvement in Syria.
Right here’s a more in-depth have a look at the dilemma the Kurds in finding themselves in.
Kurdish-led combatants subsidized through the U.S. stand guard in Raqqa, Syria, on Feb. 7, 2022. (AP Picture/Baderkhan Ahmad, Report)
Kurdish-led combatants subsidized through the U.S. stand guard in Raqqa, Syria, on Feb. 7, 2022. (AP Picture/Baderkhan Ahmad, Report)Learn Extra
Who’re the U.S.-allied Kurdish combatants in Syria?The Kurds are a number of the biggest stateless ethnic teams on the earth, with some 30 million concentrated in a territory straddling Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. They’re a minority in every nation and feature incessantly suffered persecution, which has fueled armed Kurdish uprisings.In Syria, they carved out an self reliant enclave early within the civil battle, by no means absolutely siding with the Assad govt or the rebels looking for to topple him.When the Islamic State crew seized a 3rd of the rustic in 2014, Kurdish combatants — who’re secular and come with ladies of their ranks — proved their mettle in early battles in opposition to the extremists, incomes fortify from the U.S.-led coalition.They shaped a bunch referred to as the Syrian Democratic Forces, which additionally comprises Arab combatants, and drove the Islamic State crew out of enormous spaces of Syria with assist from U.S.-led airstrikes and American particular forces. In 2017, those Kurdish-led forces captured Raqqa, the capital of the extremists’ self-styled caliphate.
Turkish-backed Syrian forces stand in formation close to town of Azaz, Syria, on Oct. 7, 2019. (AP Picture, Report)
Turkish-backed Syrian forces stand in formation close to town of Azaz, Syria, on Oct. 7, 2019. (AP Picture, Report)Learn Extra
Why is Turkey preventing the Kurds?Turkey has lengthy seen the SDF as an extension of the decades-old Kurdish insurgency inside its personal borders. It considers the principle Kurdish faction a terrorist crew on par with the Islamic State and has stated it shouldn’t have any presence within the new Syria.Lately, Turkey has educated and funded combatants referred to as the Syrian Nationwide Military, serving to them wrest keep watch over of territory from the Kurds in northern Syria alongside the border with Turkey. Those Turkish-backed combatants have portrayed themselves as a part of the opposition in opposition to Assad, however analysts say they’re in large part pushed through opportunism and hatred of the Kurds.
The Kurds have excited by scuffling with the SNA lately. However the brand new management in Damascus, which additionally has longstanding ties to Turkey, may open any other, for much longer entrance.
Kurdish-led combatants subsidized through the U.S. guy a checkpoint in Hassakeh, Syria, on Jan. 24, 2022. (AP Picture/Baderkhan Ahmad, Report)
Kurdish-led combatants subsidized through the U.S. guy a checkpoint in Hassakeh, Syria, on Jan. 24, 2022. (AP Picture/Baderkhan Ahmad, Report)Learn Extra
How do the Syrian rebels view the Kurds?The principle rebellion faction is led through Ahmad al-Sharaa, previously referred to as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, a former al-Qaida militant who reduce ties with the crowd 8 years in the past and says he needs to construct a brand new Syria freed from dictatorship that can serve all its spiritual and ethnic communities.Nawaf Khalil, head of the Germany-based Heart for Kurdish Research, stated the early indicators had been sure. He stated the rebels prompt transparent of 2 SDF-controlled enclaves of Aleppo after they stormed town two weeks in the past at first in their fast advance around the nation.“It’s also sure that they didn’t talk negatively in regards to the Syrian Democratic Forces,” he stated.It is still observed if the ones sentiments will undergo. After sweeping into Deir al-Zour this week, a fighter from al-Sharaa’s crew posted a video pronouncing they’d quickly advance towards Raqqa and different spaces of jap Syria, elevating the opportunity of additional clashes with the Kurds.The rebels may nonetheless search some roughly settlement with the Kurds to include them into the post-Assad political order, however that might most probably require accepting some extent of Kurdish autonomy within the east. It might additionally possibility angering Turkey, which now seems to be the executive energy dealer in Syria.
American assault helicopter flies over Hassakeh, Syria, on Jan. 24, 2022. (AP Picture/Baderkhan Ahmad, Report)
American assault helicopter flies over Hassakeh, Syria, on Jan. 24, 2022. (AP Picture/Baderkhan Ahmad, Report)Learn Extra
Will the Trump management fortify the Kurds?The highest U.S. army commander for the Heart East, Military Gen. Erik Kurilla, met with SDF forces in Syria on Tuesday, in an indication of the Biden management’s dedication to the alliance post-Assad. However issues may exchange on Jan. 20.Trump has equipped few information about his Heart East coverage, except pronouncing he needs to finish the area’s wars and stay america out of them. In a social media put up in a while sooner than Assad used to be overthrown, Trump wrote that “Syria is a large number, however isn’t our pal, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT.”All over his earlier time period, in 2019, Trump deserted the Kurds forward of a Turkish incursion, casting it because the success of a marketing campaign promise to finish U.S. involvement within the area’s “never-ending wars.”The transfer triggered heavy complaint, together with from outstanding Republicans who accused him of betraying an best friend. Trump backtracked weeks later, approving a much broader venture to protected oil fields within the east. The troops remained the place they had been and the alliance continued. ___Associated Press creator Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed.___Follow the AP’s Syria protection at
